EDTPA FAQS

edTPA is a pre-service assessment process designed by educators to answer the essential question: “Is a new teacher ready for the job?” edTPA includes a review of a teacher candidate’s authentic teaching materials as the culmination of a teaching and learning process that documents and demonstrates each candidate’s ability to effectively teach his/her subject matter to all students. For more information, visit the SCALE/Pearson edTPA site.

Evidence of a candidate’s ability to teach is drawn from a subject-specific learning segment of 3-5 lessons from a unit of instruction taught to one class of students. Materials assessed as part of the edTPA process include video clips of instruction, lesson plans, student work samples, analysis of student learning, and reflective commentaries. Based on the submitted evidence, which is reviewed by trained scorers, faculty and candidates can discuss the impact of candidates’ teaching performance on student learning and determine ways to improve teaching. Faculty can analyze evidence of candidate performance to guide decision-making about program revision. State education agencies may use edTPA scores for licensure and accreditation. Beginning in AY 2019-2020, North Carolina is requiring a passing edTPA score for a licensure recommendation.

Beginning in the fall 2015 semester, all student teaching candidates must complete edTPA.

No … we have embedded edTPA “practice tasks” into our coursework prior to student teaching for all initial licensure programs. These practice tasks give you the chance to learn about edTPA and practice it without the pressures of student teaching. These practice tasks are just that—practice. When you get to your actual student teaching semester, you will complete an entire edTPA product (all required tasks) based on what you are teaching at that time and using the students in your P-12 classroom for student teaching. None of the practice pieces will be used for this final product, but the skills and understanding you’ve learned about edTPA will.

While faculty and supervisors have strict guidelines about the kinds of support that can be provided during the student teaching/internship semester, student support sessions will be scheduled throughout the semester to assist candidates in completing the edTPA Final Product and submitting it for scoring by SCALE/Pearson.

Yes. You must take the edTPA and the Praxis Subject Assessment licensure exam test in the same area, so you will want to coordinate this. We strongly recommend that middle grades undergraduate candidates use their first rotation content area during student teaching for the edTPA final product if possible. Otherwise, you may be pushed to complete the edTPA product in your second content area by the submission deadline.

All teacher education programs now have edTPA-like assignments built into program coursework. As candidates complete these programs, they will have opportunities designed by course instructors to better understand the components of edTPA.

In addition, the edTPA Handbooks (containing student directions and all rubrics) plus a variety of other helpful resources are available on our College of Education edTPA Canvas site. Any UNC Charlotte student can enroll in our College of Education edTPA Canvas Site (to enroll: click this link à Enroll in edTPA Canvas course). Ninernet login required for Canvas access. Candidates and faculty should be reminded that the edTPA Handbook materials should NOT be duplicated or shared. Violations may result in user access to these materials being revoked.

Another good website for candidates is the SCALE/Pearson edTPA site. This site provides general information about edTPA and scoring.

• For World Language and Classical Languages, no translation is required.
• For all Elementary Education, no translation is required if the language of instruction is Spanish.
• For Special Education with a specialty area of Deaf and Hearing Impaired, no translation is required if the language of instruction is American Sign Language.
• For English as an Additional Language, translations are necessary only when highlighting key exchanges that reveal students’ content understandings and/or language proficiency. Translations do not need to be a full transcript and can be provided within the commentary and noted with video clip time-stamps.
• For all other subject area edTPA submissions, the use of a language other than English requires a translation for video, instructional materials, etc.

Assessment Policies >> Translation Requirements –

https://www.edtpa.com/PageView.aspx?f=GEN_CandidatePolicies.html

edTPA Submission Requirements –

https://www.edtpa.com/Content/Docs/edTPASubmissionRequirements.pdf

Yes. Beginning in AY 2019-2020, all student teaching candidates will have to pass edTPA in order to receive a licensure recommendation. This is a legislative requirement, meaning it is a state law.

Yes. edTPA is a required student teaching project. Scores on edTPA will be calculated as part of the student teaching grade. Candidates cannot successfully complete the student teaching course without submitting a viable edTPA product.

As of September 1, 2019, minimum required passing scores on edTPA are as follows:

Passing edTPA is a requirement for both course completion and licensure. In addition, UNC Charlotte Graduate School policy mandates that candidates must be enrolled in a course the semester that they graduate.

Graduate certificate candidates who do not receive a viable, passing edTPA score prior to the end of the term may receive a grade of Incomplete for student teaching until a passing score is received. This may also necessitate enrollment in GRAD 7999, a one-hour credit course (approximately $250) in order to comply with Grad School policy regarding enrollment requirements. Candidates whose graduation date is delayed until a passing edTPA score is received will also have to reapply for graduation. 

It is highly recommended that all candidates submit their edTPA products by the suggested deadlines to optimize their chances of passing the project prior to the end of the spring term.

The final edTPA product completed during student teaching is scored by SCALE/Pearson. Scorers of edTPA final products are all content area experts who go through a rigorous training process to be accepted. The SCALE/Pearson scores are sent to the candidate and to the Cato College of Education. The practice pieces candidates complete prior to student teaching are reviewed and scored by your course instructor as preparation.

Deadlines for official portfolio submission are announced in the beginning of the student teaching semester and are also available on the edTPA Canvas Site. Check with your site coordinator or edTPA support faculty for details.

SCALE/Pearson does have a process to Request a Score Confirmation. This is a review process where if a candidate believes their scores on one or more rubrics was in error, the candidate can request a score confirmation. This can only be requested when a numeric score has been assigned to all rubrics (no Condition Codes). There is a $200 fee for this service. The written request must be postmarked within 60 calendar days of the score reporting date for your project submission. See Requesting a Score Confirmation on the edTPA.com website for additional information. All costs associated with requesting a score confirmation are the responsibility of the candidate.

The cost of scoring a full edTPA product is $300. Beginning with the fall 2022 term, a $300 edTPA fee will be assessed for all student teaching courses. The Cato College of Education will use fee funds to purchase edTPA vouchers for all student teachers that can be submitted with their final product to cover the cost of scoring. This process will allow students to pay for edTPA using financial aid rather than paying directly out of pocket and is designed to ease some of the immediate financial responsibilities associated with licensure exams.

Updated 11/22/21:

SL 2021-180 (SB 105), signed into law by Governor Roy Cooper on 11/18/2021, provided an additional supplement on the NC salary scale to beginning teachers designated as “highly qualified graduates” during the first 1-3 years of their employment. Beginning teachers are considered highly qualified if they graduated from an undergraduate NC EPP with a GPA of 3.75 or higher and earned the following minimum score on edTPA:

• World & Classical Languages: 42
• Elementary Education (combo): 57
• All Other Areas: 48

Details on the salary supplement amount and duration are available on p. 112-113 of SL 2021-180. Note: whether a candidate qualifies for the pay increase is determined by the employing district (not UNC Charlotte)

Per DPI in a communication dated 3.26.18, candidates may retake all or part of edTPA as often as they wish prior to being hired as a classroom teacher. Once a candidate is hired/offered employment, no more edTPA retakes will be considered in determining whether a candidate is eligible for the pay increase. For most districts, “final” edTPA scores are submitted as part of the employment application. Candidates should check with the districts where they are seeking employment for more information. Note: whether a candidate qualifies for the pay increase is determined by the employing district (not UNC Charlotte).

Beginning in AY 2019-2020, a minimum edTPA is score is required to complete the student teaching course and receive a licensure recommendation. Specific procedures and faculty supports will be in place for candidates who need to retake part or all of edTPA in order to secure a passing score.. Candidates who do not meet the minimal passing score or who receive a score of Incomplete because of condition codes are also required to retake part or all of edTPA.

Once all score reports are received, the COED Office of Assessment and Accreditation will contact all candidates who do not meet the minimum passing score on the first attempt with information on next steps.

All costs for retaking part or all of edTPA are the sole responsibility of the candidate. Retaking the assessment is $100 per task to up $300 for the entire portfolio (Elementary Education undergraduate candidates retaking the entire portfolio, including Task 4, will still only pay $300). For more information, please review the edTPA Retake Instructions for Candidates.

No. Any required licensure exams are mandated by NC DPI and are not part of edTPA. You may register to take the tests at any time you feel ready. Please see the table below for additional information and links about these tests.

For additional information about specific test passing scores, visit the TEAL website; to learn about Praxis tests, visit the ETS Praxis website and search by state; to learn about the NC Foundations tests, visit the NC Foundations of Teaching test website.